The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales cover

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

by Jon Scieszka

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales is the ultimate in fractured fairy tales. Not only do the characters create their own stories, they also design the structure of the book itself. Classic fairy tales are deconstructed and rewritten with different but recognizable names, such as The Princess and the Bowling Ball, The Really Ugly Duckling, The Tortoise and the Hair and Chicken Licken. These stories and their characters intersect and create a mish-mash of narratives. Scieszka also mocks the conventions of books in general; the title page, dedication, and even the public information page have all been deconstructed. For example, Scieszka sneaks in the line “Anyone caught telling these fairly stupid tales will be visited, in person, by the Stinky Cheese Man” on the publication data page.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?